The Federal Government has terminated the Obajana-Benin Road contracts with three companies due to non-performance.
The government terminated contracts 6136, 6137, and 6138 with Mothercat Ltd, Dantata & Sawoe Construction Ltd, and RCC Ltd, respectively.
The Federal Ministry of Works said in a statement on Monday that the projects affected by this termination are the dualisation of Obajana-Benin road, section II (Okene-Auchi) in Kogi/Edo State; the dualisation of Obajana-Benin road, section III (Auchi-Ehor) in Edo State; and the dualisation of Obajana-Benin road section IV (Ehor-Benin) in Edo State.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, stated that “the termination of the said contracts became necessary in view of the affected companies’ excessive delay in job performance.”
The statement signed by the minister’s spokesperson, Uchenna Orji, also cited the contractors’ “failure, neglect and or refusal to fulfill their contractual obligations as required by the Standard Conditions of Contract and this has affected the timely completion of the projects and thus resulted in the expiration of the contracts by effluxion of time”.
The minister said the projects awarded on December 3, 2012 were advertently abandoned by the contractors and no genuine commitment or good faith was shown towards executing the projects thereby exposing road users to untold hardship due to the deplorable condition of the projects.
Umahi consequently directed “the engineers in charge to take necessary steps to enter upon both the site and the works and take the same over from the affected companies”.
He directed the engineers concerned to, upon doing the needful, arrange with the affected companies for a joint measurement of work so far done by the said companies preparatory to taking over the sites from them.
He warned that the ministry under his watch won’t condone acts of unseriousnes and sabotage by contractors whose plan is to become a clog in the wheel of progress of the current administration.
He further warned that the government won’t hesitate in terminating all projects that are funded but are non-performing.